Modeling Sideways Overturning of Agricultural Tractors

A mathematic model was developed for the simulation of sideways overturning of agricultural tractors on slopes. The overturning motion was described as a combination of the rotational motions with respect to the first and second tipping axes using the principle of conservation of angular mementum. A stability criterion was also established in terms of angular acceleration of tractor about the second tipping axis. Verification of the proposed model was provided by comparing the stability boundaries predicted by computer simulation with those observed experimentally for an equivalent 1/6 scaled mode tractor. A good agreement was shown between the simulation and experimental results.